Of Lost Paths and the Ring of Power
by Aki0Storyteller0
Summary: Once people from different worlds visited each other; time passed & those paths disappeared into legend and myth, all but forgotten by the different worlds. A seemingly normal girl stumbled upon a path between worlds. Finding herself in a world, both familiar and alien, she goes on a quest to save this world and the friends she has made. "...this affects me just as much as you..."
1. Prologue

(Disclaimer for story: I only own JJ, TK, and Sora!)

There are many worlds, worlds that most people don't even know about; there are places that they will never get to see. There are those who dream of going to other worlds, of seeing things that others will never see.

Once people from different worlds visited each other; yet, as time passed, those paths became less used until they disappeared into legend and myth, all but forgotten by the different worlds.

But as chance would have it, a seemingly normal girl came upon such. That is where the story begins…


	2. Chapter 1

I had just gotten off the air plane in Wellington, New Zealand. I looked around for the baggage claim for a brief moment before spotting it and making my way to it through the crowd of people going this way and that. It was your typical airport, I could see people hugging and crying and laughing and smiling. Some were waving to each other, some getting off of planes, others there to say 'hello', some getting on to planes, and others there to say 'farewell'.

It always felt odd to watch this type of thing year after year. See, every year during the summer and winter, the only time I can get away from school, I come home. I used to live in New Zealand for a much longer period of time, but that was years ago.

"Sora!" I grunted as a body collided with me as I turned around with the bags I'd just grabbed at baggage claim. "OHMYGOD!SORA,IT'SSOGOODTOSEEYOU!IMISSEDYOUSOMUCH!" the person who tackle-hugged me yelled in my ear, speaking so fast that her words were one very long word. My ears were ringing and for good reason.

My name is Sora, Sora Kings.

I'm an average girl, not pretty, not ugly, not special in any way really; I'm just me, plain and simple. I'm roughly five foot five. I've got lightly tanned skin and shoulder length blond hair. My eyes are a light purple color that makes most people ask if I'm wearing contacts, but I swear I'm not. My nose is straight and smallish. My lips are a light pink, similar to that of the petals of a pink rose. I have a slender figure that I usually hide with a big, baggie green t-shirt, baggie black pants, and thigh-high brown boots. But my figure is not the only thing that I'm hiding, I've got some tattoos that I'd prefer for others not to know about. My tattoos cover my left arm - reaching up to my shoulder -, my right leg -reaching up to about mid-thigh -, and one that curves around my right wrist; they are vine-like in appearance and to some look like ivy.

Okay, so I said I'm not special, but JJ and TK – my two best friends – would say otherwise; if ever asked they would say that I'm like an Elf with my blond hair, my light colored eyes - even if they are an usual color -, my sharp eye sight, and my sensitive hearing to name a few reasons. But I've always retorted with 'that doesn't make me an Elf, do these look like pointed ears to you? No? See, I'm not an Elf.'

Anyway, my first thought when she yelled into my ear was _Damn, JJ_. I mean, she's always so loud and she knows better than anyone how sensitive my ears are. Again, she is always calling me an Elf, but I just don't see myself as even possibly being one. I mean, couldn't I be a Fairy? They're cute AND they can fly! I always wanted to fly; I mean, who doesn't want to? And really, I have a hard time believing that I could be as _good_ as an Elf at anything; what makes them so great? Yeah, sure they'll live forever unless they are killed in battle or die of a broken heart – at least that's what I've heard/read – and I'm not really sure why anyone would want to live forever, it would suck to watch your non-Elf friends die. Whenever I ask TK about it, he agrees with JJ! And he says that I'm 'too elegant and lovely to be a little person'.

"JJ, my ears…" I mutter as I tried to rub the appendages, "They hurt…"

"OH MY GOSH! I'M SO SORRY!" JJ screamed as she let me go, I winced again. Goodness gracious, can't she ever tone down the volume? I mean, we're in an airport for goodness sake. And, we were getting a lot of looks.

"It's fine." I said as I was finally allowed to really rub my ears. "Come on, let's go. Before something else happens."

Three hours later, I was standing in the living room of my house – which I only get to see twice a year. JJ and TK were, as usual, demanding that we do some cosplaying on our camping trip – every summer we spend one night camping in the mountains behind my house, it's a tradition. I was avidly denying the idea, but then something happened that I never saw coming; JJ came up with an argument that had me agreeing.

So, a little about JJ and TK. JJ is a lot like an Amazon woman; she's strong, smart, beautiful, and has a strong belief that any man who can defeat her in combat should marry her because… well, she can't kill him without going to jail, but she doesn't hold to the belief about killing girls that beat her because, again, she can't kill them without going to jail. She looks like an Amazon too, same kind of hair, same kind of skin, eye color, same build, etc. She _is_ careful about what she wears though, making sure that it's not revealing. Usually JJ is dressed up in form fitting shirts and pants with either sandals or tennis shoes. TK is strong, average in looks, and wicked smart – like computer genius smart. He looks Asian and acts like he's from China or Japan, but he was born and raised in Wellington, New Zealand, trust me I know.

JJ squealed in response to my agreement as TK cheered and both disappeared to change. JJ headed to the bathroom and TK went to one of the guest rooms. I sighed and shook my head. Why they were always begging me to do this, with no success until this time, never really made sense to me. I mean, yeah, I'm a _Lord of the Rings_ fan too, but I do not want to be an Elf or a Hobbit like JJ or TK. Did I mention that before? Well, it's true… JJ is crazy about Elves and TK wants to be a Hobbit; and they're both about the right height for each. JJ and TK reappeared quickly and I bit back a groan as I saw their costumes; JJ, Elven maiden of Rivendell, and TK, Hobbit of the Shire. I opened my mouth to protest and found myself being pushed into my room with two bags and orders to change.

After changing, I stood before the full length mirror and blushed as I looked over the warrior attire I'd been given. The top was mostly black, it had a turtle neck and the shoulders were uncovered with sleeves that were transparent, the top had a triangle of fabric cut out to reveal some cleavage, the shirt was hemmed just so that most of my toned stomach was visible and my back had almost no covering, there was fine blue embroiders along the hems. Then there were the black leggings with a black skirt with blue hems overtop. And then, there were the pieces of jewelry – the blue crescent moon necklace and the matching dangle earrings –, the black and blue gloves, and the black boots with the lovely blue leg guards that made the entire outfit match. All that was missing was a weapon. I turned to my bed and looked at the second bag sitting there. It was rather long and light; I frowned as I tried to see through the semi-transparent material to no avail. Opening the bag, I found three items: a purple wig – that I tossed onto my pillows with an eye roll –, a black cloak that would cover my form perfectly and completely, and a long sword – that would have to be slung across my back if I wanted to keep it from dragging on the ground – and a scabbard with a strap that could be slung across my body to keep the sword in place.

Sighing, I left my room to see the smiling and smug faces of my best friends. Three packs sat on the floor at their feet. "A Hobbit, an Elf, and a woman… what an odd bunch we make." I said as a small grin turned up the corners of my lips, but JJ and TK frowned at my words before JJ entered the room I had left moments before and returned with a pair of pointed ears.

"You're supposed to be an Elf. Why didn't you put these on?" JJ asked as she tried to hand them to me. I refused to take them and moved to grab the pack closest to me; the bags were skillfully made to look like the bags that the Fellowship would carry with them from Rivendell.

"Because I'm not an Elf, JJ; I'm nothing like an Elf." I told her as I looked through the bag to find that it had been filled with my things; two tank tops – one blue and the other black, a pair of black shorts, a pair of gray pants, two pairs of socks, and under garments for both outfits. My hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, body spray, two books, a notebook, a pen, and a pack of tissues were in the pack. I frowned. "Why don't we make our trip a bit longer than normal?"

"How much longer?" TK asked.

"A few days, two or three more days than the usual one?" I shrugged as I pulled the books from my bag to find out which books from my library they were; they were _The Hobbit_ – also known as _There and Back Again_ – and _The Lord of the Rings_ both by J.R.R. Tolkien. I smiled as I put the books back into my bag.

"Okay! This is going to be so AWESOME!" JJ screamed before she and TK grabbed their bags and both headed to the guest rooms to add more of their things to their packs. I quickly moved to the bags that had made the trip with me and put some more supplies into my bag before heading to the kitchen to finish my packing. JJ and TK joined me soon after and did their own packing.


End file.
